Lost for Words
by YkCandy
Summary: Yami didn't leave to go to the afterlife. He stayed, but neither Yugi nor Yami have realised their true feelings yet. What will happen in the future? Will they realise their true feelings? Something is bound to happen. LEMON later on. Yami x Yugi. YYxY
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

Right, I'm just going to make this very clear.

NOTE: PLEASE READ THE NOTES BEFORE THE STORY THAT I HAVE PUT, AS THEY ARE IMPORTANT AND WILL HOPEFULLY PREVENT CONFUSION.

I'll just say a few things to get stuff straight.

- The prologue is to explain why Yami is not in the afterlife in my story.

- In the story anybody other than Yugi and Yami's friends, do not know of Yami's existence. This includes Sugoroku – Yugi's grandfather.

- I will be using some japanese words in this story, I will put a list of the translations at in the author notes at the beginning of the story incase you don't understand.

- This story may seem like its explaining things you already know – for example that Yami is Yugi's other half, darker half, etc. This is because people who have not seen all of Yu-gi-oh Duel Monsters! Or those who have not seen Yu-gi-oh at all, will be reading this story. (For example, some people I know in real life). I'm sorry if this bugs you.

- There will be two OCs (Original Characters) in this story of mine.

- Yugi is age 16. Yami is age '17' (You could say 3017 years old, but maybe not.)

- I have watched the JAPANESE anime. JAPANESE. Got it? Not English. In the English anime, things are slightly different. For example – names, and Yami being from 5000 years ago, not the original 3000.

- If you're confused about anything else, feel free to contact me and ask. ~(^ ^)

- When I have completed this story, I may write a sequel depending on reviews, requests and just the story in general. We'll see, ne?

- The pairing is Yami x Yugi. And talk to me about other pairings, ne?

- Yugi's friends will NOT appear in this story. Well, maybe, but I'm keeping it a secret. If you really want it, ask me for a sequel.

- This story will eventually have a LEMON, or LEMON(s). Yes.

- I'm kind of slow with the whole revealing thing, I know I know, it's bad to tease. But still, I hope you enjoy the story.

- I think that's it?

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. Alright? If I did, I'd have Yami and Yugi doing sexual things in the anime. No, really. The only things I own are the words you're about to read, and the OCs. ~(^ ^)

Please do review if you actually read this. Constructive criticisms please, flames I'll only use to burn down houses. I won't bother to update if I don't get any reviews. This is actually my first fanfiction, and the first story I've bothered to write in about 3 or more years.

In the story:

" " = Aloud talking.

' ' + Italic Text = Yugi's Thoughts/Mind link talk.

" " + Italic Text = Yami's Thoughts/Mind link talk.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Prologue:

Yami hadn't left for the afterlife. No, the tanned, at first seemingly emotionless former Pharaoh had actually walked through the doors. However, as soon as he started to turn – as soon as he saw the overwhelming feelings of his friends, his lighter half, he _felt_ something. Naturally, he had felt things before when retrieving his memories, duelling and travelling with the innocent, shorter, Yugi. But not like this. In only a second, the afterlife was no longer significant. What was home? He knew. His home was at the game shop, and for that one, selfish, meaningful second, he just didn't care. He didn't care whether or not the God's would be furious, looking down upon him. Really, he only wished that they would be able to forgive and overlook his selfish act.

Fully turning around and giving a faint smile – a strong, open and caring smile, he ran back to Yugi and the others. As soon as his presence touched the world of the living, a beam of light surrounded Atemu. His soul and body basked in the light that was forced upon him, and his soul speedily travelled back to where it had been - within Yugi.

Once more, Atemu became Yugi's other half. Yugi's one and only – 'Mou hitori no boku', Yami.


	2. Chapter 2 Broken Puzzle

-- Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. Alright? If I did, I'd have Yami and Yugi doing sexual things in the anime. No, really. The only things I own are the words you're about to read, and the OCs. ~(^ ^)

Japanese words used in the story:

Mou hitori no boku – My other self

Aibou – Partner

Yami – Dark

Ittekimasu – I'm off! / I'm going! Sort of thing.

Itterasshai – Come back safely etc.

Mutou Yugi – Names in Japan are done like so, last name first, first name last.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yugi, curled up in his silk-like covers on his bed, was thinking hard. He hadn't slept properly in a few days - the effects were beginning to kick in, but Yugi was helpless as the overwhelming sadness in his heart caused him great distress and confusion.  
His friends, Jounouchi, Anzu, Honda, Bakura, and so many others that he had met along a tough and nostalgic road, had all gone. Not completely, Yugi knew that. They'd gone a few months before as exchange students spread to varied areas of Japan; this was to improve their study, but also to broaden their experiences. What fate stood in front of them? None of them knew, yet they welcomed the new experience with open arms when the teachers of their classes suggested the exchange. Yugi could have gone, but he needed to help his grandpa with the game shop: it wasn't fair to leave him all on his own. Besides, presently Yugi had become rather neurotic. However, at the time he didn't have anything in particular bothering him, and with a strong-willed smile he agreed with his friends that they'd see each other in a year.

Yes, Yugi had other things on his mind. Other things that tugged incomprehensibly inside of him. Just after Yugi's friends departed, a couple of young, rough-looking boys had come up to him.

"You must be Yugi, Mutou Yugi, yes?" they had asked, with somewhat mischievous grins painted on their faces. Yugi, with his tri-colored hair shining slightly as the sun's rays beamed down upon his body, nodded.

"Yes, I'm Yugi. Did you want something?" Yugi had said, his angelic face smiling, as if he hadn't noticed the intimidating looks and actions of the ones he faced. One dark brown haired boy, a grin also on his face, took a step forward.

"Let's duel, Yugi!" The boy said with confidence, his creepy eyes looking down at the small, now surprised, boy in front of him.

"Okay… I don't see why not."

This was something that Yugi didn't want to remember, but it was inevitable. That day, he shouldn't have accepted that duel.

What happened? He didn't want to remember. Rolling over in his bed, looking at his desk, the pieces of his Millennium Puzzle scattered over it. You see, what happened that day was, having lost the duel, which was held on the rooftop of the school building, the brown-haired boy - who lost, suddenly smirked, laughing. He walked towards Yugi with narrowed eyes, doing the one thing he wanted to do from the second he spoke to this, what he found to be, annoyingly innocent adolescent. Pushing the boy to the ground, watching him struggling to move as he kicked him and injured him, giving unwanted gifts of pain, bruises, and slight tears to the youth. Once satisfied, he yanked the Millennium Puzzle away from the tri-color haired boy who was now holding his stomach, gasping in pain, and then took it apart. Following this, the ill-natured teenager violently threw the pieces of the puzzle over the rail of the rooftop, his shiver-inducing cackle carried along the wind.

Even though this had happened 3 or 4 months ago, and Yugi thankfully had successfully found the tough pieces of the puzzle - unshattered, he still hadn't finished completing it. Yugi felt an ever-growing loneliness in his heart.

Remembering this unwanted memory, the small pale-skinned boy closed his eyes, attempting to get the few hours of sleep he barely managed to get each night. He drifted off, the loneliness disappearing temporarily as Yugi escaped from reality.

The next morning, Yugi slowly opened his eyes with difficulty, squinting at some of the suns light that showed through the gaps in his curtains. The boy rubbed his eyes.

"Unh?"

He rose from his bed, walking over to the desk he had placed his Millennium Puzzle on, and then gazed sleepily at his calendar.

"Sunday?"

Yugi's head turned to face the sun that was continuing to seep into his room. He narrowed his eyes.

'_Alright!' _He thought._ 'Today I will complete the puzzle again. I just have to, and I know I can do it!'_

Yugi's minimalistic room consisted of a heart-warming soft-looking bed, a chest of drawers which contained his clothes, and a lamp which was placed on a wooden desk accompanied by a chair, which had two drawers on the right and left side of it, the right side containing various writing utensils, and the left with Yugi's important duel monsters cards. Yes, the precious cards that he and his other half fought with, together. They were partners, the lighter half Yugi, and the mysterious darker half that slept within the Millennium Puzzle, Yami.

The slow, sleepy boy was now wide awake, sitting on the warm mattress of his bed, slowly but surely working on putting the Millennium Puzzle back together.

"Yugi! Breakfast is ready! Come down here before it gets cold!" Yugi's Grandpa, Sugoroku, shouted up the stairs, but to no avail. Yugi's mind was away with the clouds, completely concentrated on this one thing, the completion of the Millennium Puzzle.

Yugi's Grandpa walked up the stairs, concerned about the lack of the younger boy's response. Slowly and quietly, he opened the door, just enough to peek sneakily at his grandson. Of course, he was concerned about the fact his grandson hadn't eaten anything since a few hours after noon the day before, but he managed an understanding smile. Turning away, he closed the door as quietly as he opened it, leaving his grandson in peace to complete the puzzle.

No one knew of Yugi's other half, Yami, with the exception of Yugi's dearest friends, whom he went through a lot with.

The determined hopeful lighter half continued to work towards the completion of the puzzle, the clock ticking by, hours had gone past, yet he still wasn't done.

"Now, maybe I think I should do something." Sugoroku said to himself, a smile planted on his face. As much as the man knew he should be worried, he had faith in the boy, knowing that the puzzle was very important to his grandson. Sundays the game shop wasn't open, so the grandpa was sat rather comfortably on the 3 seated-couch. It was maroon colored, which blended in with the seemingly warm-feeling maroon and cream themed room, wooden furniture dotted here and there.

The strong-willed elderly man stood, walking through to the kitchen, where he began to cook some rice. He was preparing some rice balls, seeing as Yugi had not left the position he was in for the entire day except a couple of times to go to the bathroom. It was sort of like he was possessed with something, urging him to go on; however, that wasn't the case. It was purely the boy's admirable willpower.

Finished with his task, Sugoroku placed 4 rice balls on a small wooden tray, smiling at the thought of being able to help in some way. Walking up to Yugi's room, he laughed to himself as he concentrated on not dropping the tray or letting the rice balls fall off. It gave him a nostalgic feeling of his youth, in a weird way.

Yugi sighed, feeling pleased with himself. '_Hmm, okay. I'm almost done!_' His stomach made a loud growling noise, and soon after he heard a muffled chuckle from what seemed like the direction of the door to his bedroom. '_Hmm? Grandpa?_' Yugi smiled as the door opened to reveal his grandpa, standing in the doorway, holding the tray with the same expression.

"Yugi… It seems you're doing well. I'm glad, I was a little worried, though I'm relieved you're alright. You seemed to be in your own little world you know?" Sugoroku laughed, placing the tray on Yugi's desk. "As much as I'd like to leave you here like this, you have school tomorrow Yugi. Do get some sleep if possible; I don't want to have to turn this into a comedy drama series, hitting you lightly with a newspaper roll to wake you. Do eat these as well." He pointed at the rice balls. "They'll help take some of that hunger away, you've worked hard it seems."

Yugi nodded with a mellow, caring smile.

"Yeah, I will Grandpa. Take care of yourself though you know?" He said, making a funny face. "I may not finish before you go to bed though, so I guess I'll speak with you tomorrow morning. Sorry Grandpa, for not spending time with you, and thank you for the rice balls. I appreciate it."

"No, it's no problem. I'm sure you would have done the same thing. Well then, I'll see you tomorrow."

Sugoroku gave one last smile, before closing the door to once again leave Yugi in peace. Knowing he had done his part at least, this made him a little relieved.

Hours had past, the room which once had overwhelming rays of sunlight showering it, was now replaced with faint moonlight, and the slightly dim light of the lamp on Yugi's desk. The game shop was drowned in silence; it was late at night now. Most people had retired to their beds, to recharge themselves. However, there Yugi was, sat up in his bed, half of his youthful body with the covers laid on top of it.

Every now and then the adolescent rubbed his eyes, it seems he had been rewarded for having such determination and remarkable concentration, as there was only a few pieces left of the puzzle before completion.

More and more minutes passed, Yugi couldn't stay awake much longer. His vision was becoming increasingly blurry, and his hands ached a little.

'_I'm almost done, just these last two pieces. Please. I can do this._'

The boy's eyes widened as the last piece of the mysterious golden Millennium Puzzle was put into place. After doing so, Yugi was filled with deep warmth. He didn't understand what it was. Head falling back on the pillow, muscles and body relaxed, the lighter halves relieved eyes began to close. Eventually Yugi drifted off to sleep, sighing happily. The Millennium Puzzle was around his neck, with the boy's arms around it, embracing the pyramid shaped object.

As the morning of the next day arrived, Yugi awoke, hearing the birds outside. As he tried to sit up though, he groaned from a faint aching pain. Doing his best to ignore it, he stood up and opened his eyes.

"Nnnh. Eh, huh?"

His vision was distorted, blurry, and his knees felt a little weak. He stumbled out of his bedroom door, school clothes in hand, the Millennium Puzzle around his neck still. Into the bathroom he went, having a hot, refreshing shower, then dressing himself and drying off his hair. After completing this, he stood in front of the mirror, wiping away the condensation that was on the surface so he could see his reflection, and continued on to get himself ready. He brushed his teeth, and brushed his tri-colored spiky hair, but as he did so he was pulled into deep thought.

'_I… Mou Hitori no Boku… He hasn't talked to me at all since I put the puzzle back together. Why? What is this bad feeling? I… I don't understand a thing. All I can do is wait for him – to speak._'

As Yugi thought this, he leaned his head against the mirror, his hands shaking.

"Yugi!"

"Eh?"

Yugi returned to normal, snapping himself out of his thought process and pulling himself together.

"Yes, I'm coming Grandpa!"

He brought his hand to his chin, chuckling and smiling to himself for a split second, before making his way hurriedly downstairs, where his breakfast and Sugoroku was waiting.

"Jeez Yugi… What were you doing? You're going to be late you know!" The boys kind-hearted Grandpa said, his hand on his hip and a confusing smirk on his face.

"Heh, sorry about that Grandpa. Toast for breakfast?" Yugi said, looking at the clock worriedly.

"Mhmm, yes. Instinct told me you'd be a little later getting ready than usual, you silly teenager. Honestly." Sugoroku laughed. "Therefore Yugi, I guess it was good I made toast then. Now hurry up, or you'll really be late!"

"Yeah, you're right. Well then, ittekimasu!" Yugi smiled and made his way out the door, his school bag on his back.

"Itterasshai!" Was the response, as Yugi opened the front door, closing it and making his way to school.

The bell rang and echoed throughout the school, thankfully just after Yugi had arrived and stepped through the school doors, panting as he ran most of the way there. Catching his breath slightly, the short boy walked through his class doors, the teacher was already there, but he hadn't started homeroom yet, so he was spared from being counted as late.

"Well, settle down now please. It seems er, we have two transfer students in. Quite a surprise. Their names are er…" He shuffled through the papers he was holding, making up his mind and sighing. "Let's just let them introduce themselves to you shall we? Come in you two, greet the class."

Two students waltzed through the open door. One was a slim girl of average height, with hair of a beautiful dark purple color, and dark chocolate brown eyes.

She bowed as she faced the eager curious students, a few whispers and gasps exchanged here and there at her beauty.

As she rose from her bowing position and smiled, she began to introduce herself.

"My name is Aoi, Izumi Aoi. Pleased to meet you and I hope we'll get along." She smiled excitedly, a few male students returning it by whistling. This caused the homeroom teacher, Kobayashi-sensei, to raise his voice as to calm the students down.

The boy then took the silence as his cue, bowing, and then raising his head to reveal his mysterious bright green eyes, and blood-like deep red hair.

"I'm Suzuki Sora, or plainly put, just Sora. Pleased to meet you all." He said, completing his swift introduction. Similar to Aoi's situation, a few gasps and whispers arose.

The boy was tall, and from appearance he didn't seem Japanese. His figure was similar to the girls in a way, very slim. However the boy, unlike the girl, seemed at least above six feet tall.

He wasn't intimidating or anything, but he seemed quite introverted. His eyes were mysterious, but had no trace of harmful intentions in them, they were rather gentle.

The school bell gave its message to move on to the next period, after a while of the students of Yugi's class swarming round the new intriguing students.

Half an hour later, Yugi felt slightly hotter than normal, his almost child-like palms sweating a little. He was sat in the oh-not-so-comfortable chair in class; he was in Math, a subject which he didn't particularly have any interest in. This taunted his increase in lack of patience and concentration. He was absent-mindedly doodling at the back of his school book, staring blankly at the page, and pushing all sounds around him out of focus. As the lesson dragged on, the teachers voice now just a muffled groan to him as he scribbled here and there, drawing without thinking or blinking.

More time passed. He jumped, his eyes shooting open as the bell went, signalling to move on to the next lesson. Realising it was already the end of Math, Yugi's eyes returned to their normal look, deep purple, entrancing, beautiful eyes, which currently showed a hint of boredom. He lifted his light, delicate body up from his chair, sighed, and then proceeded to take a glance at what he had been up to during that class.

His eyes widened once more, a few doodles of various duel monsters were dotted across the page, but it also seemed that he had begun at one point to draw a person with spiky hair.

'_Spiky hair…?_' The pale boy shook his head. No, surely not.

Yugi pried himself away from his disturbed and confused thoughts, making his way to where his next period was taking place.

Suddenly, he was taken by surprise as his vision began to rapidly become blurry, his legs and feet feeling heavy, anchoring him to the floor somewhat. The teenager struggled and swayed in the hallway, it seemed endless and overwhelming, like a different dimension. The pace of the fragile boy's breathing sped up, as he panicked at where this had come from, also noticing the change in his body temperature.

He didn't know that something had been different since that morning, yes; his body had been in a constant struggle, a battle which needed to be fought.

One particular girl walked through the hallways, trying to figure out where the next lesson was being held. Izumi Aoi. She ran through each hallway, finally perking up as her eyes fell upon what seemed to be an older student.

"Er, Excuse me!" She said, raising her voice so the older girl would hear her.

Having successfully gotten her voice across, the girl turned around.

"Hmm? Can I help you with something?"

Aoi bowed, and then raised her head to say, "Erm, well I was wondering if you could tell me where my next class is?" Proceeding then to get out a piece of paper, pointing at a word on her timetable.

"Oh?" The girl moved her face closer to the timetable spread out on the page. "Ah, sure! You're not far from it actually, taking the corridor in front of you, turn left, then left again, run down that corridor and you'll come to your class." She said helpfully, giggling in a kind fashion after noticing Aoi rushing off, obviously having heard the girls instructions.

'_Shit! I'm going to be late, wait, aren't I already late? Ah! Now's not the time woman!' _Aoi thought to herself, running down a couple of corridors, her dazzling purple hair swinging from side to side.

As she was about to go down the last corridor and to her destination, she caught a short boy in the corner of her eye, something didn't seem right. The light-golden skinned girl halted, stopping in her tracks, panting slightly.

"You are?" She said, regaining her breath back and walking over to the tri-color haired boy.

'_Someone… who? Someone is talking… to me?'_ Yugi thought to himself, his sight too distorted for him to make out anything, body shaking.

"Oi… oi! Are you alright?!" Aoi screamed, panicking with the situation that lay before her.

The battle was too much for the boy's body to handle, Yugi collapsed on the floor, his hands and legs shaked uncontrollably, all thought was being wiped from his mind as time itself stopped and everything went black.

Lifting himself up to a standing position in the pitch black darkness that surrounded him, his body being the only light in the place, tears swelled up in Yugi's eyes. As they threatened to fall, Yugi looked at the space around him, which was empty, blank, the only thing lingering being the darkness that threatened to swallow his very existence. He knew this place. Yet, he couldn't help but feel frustrated, he didn't understand why.

"_Aibou?_"

Yugi looked around again, nothing. Wait, he had heard that deep, heart-warming voice before, that nickname before. The boy's eyes widened. '_Yami…?'_

"_Aibou._"

The boy, alarmingly similar to Yugi himself, except for his features and muscles were more defined, he was taller, his skin a little darker and his eyes crimson red, walked over to Yugi, placing his hands gently on Yugi's cheeks.

Yugi was stunned, he did nothing, and he said nothing. Yet, the taller figure continued on, slowly but surely moving his face towards the shorter, innocent boy's own.

"Aibou…?"

Yugi's eyes flashed open, making Yugi wince at the strong light that poured into his eyes.

'_A dream…?_'

He tried to sit up, but he seemed to lack energy, so he flopped his ivory-colored body back onto the bed he had awoken on. Taken back by surprise for a split second, Yugi felt a very warm hand on his delicate shoulder, it didn't feel threatening.

"Aibou."

Yugi stared up at Yami's concerned face with his glistening gentle, slightly confused, purple eyes. Yami, realising he was under Yugi's prolonged gaze, returned the look, shocked.

Snapping himself out of his half-dreamlike state and back to reality, Yugi opened his mouth to make his delayed response.

"Eh… Yami? What is it?"

"Are you alright?"

"Oh, uh, yeah I'm fine." Yugi said, receiving an indescribable expression from his darker half.

"Alright. How's your fever aibou?"

"Eh, fever?" Yugi raised one of his small, pale hands to his forehead. Then, realising bits of what happened, his hand left his forehead only to drop to the covers that lay below.

'_I was walking through the corridor and… no; I can't remember what happened after that._'

"Yugi, maybe you should-" Yami started, but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps, the door of the room they were in, opening.

"Mutou-san?"

Yugi's gaze wandered away from the former Pharaoh as he looked at what seemed to be a nurse in front of him.

"Where am I?" He said, Yami quickly giving him a concerned, protective look.

"Aibou?"

The nurse began to speak to the short teenage boy, unable to see the dark spirit by his side.

"You're in the school infirmary; you collapsed on the floor so Izumi-san, who found you, came to me, asking for help. It seems your body is in a weakened state, symptoms being an increase in temperature, lack of energy, fainting and the like. Therefore, I've phoned a taxi for you to be sent home Mutou-san. It will arrive shortly."

Yami stood next to Yugi in his spirit form, mouth open, not saying anything. One word escaped Yugi's lips.

"Oh." He sat up slowly, looking down at his pure hands, hair covering his intriguing eyes and the expression on his face.

"Mutou-san? May I ask, do you know if anything may have caused you to be in your current state?" The nurse said, noticing the boy's state of confusion and helplessness, giving him a comforting smile.

The boy's eyes enlarged as he guessed the cause. '_Did I overwork myself, putting the puzzle back together? Not that it matters, that's more important than my health. The nurse will think I'm insane though, and I don't want Mou hitori no Boku to worry about this, so I'd better keep it to myself._' He thought, not realising that his darker half was yet again sending him a shocked look, having heard his thoughts through the soul link.

"_Aibou… you…"_

Yami's thoughts were interrupted by the shaking of his lighter halves head, and his sweet voice.

"No, I don't remember doing anything to cause this. But I'm sure I'll be fine." Yugi laughed, brushing the nurse's concern off and not noticing Yami rolling his eyes.

The nurse sighed, believing in the angelic student that sat before her.

"Very well, alright. Well, do be careful for the next few days, I suggest a lot of sleep, and water. I've passed this advice to your Grandfather as well, incase it does slip from your mind." She gave an amused laugh. "I see that puzzle of yours is very dear to you."

Yugi looked up in surprise, blinking at the middle-aged woman, wondering why she had said something like that, opening his mouth to voice his thoughts.

"Why do you say that?"

"Why? Well you see…" She paused, a giggle escaping, she wasn't making fun of the boy. She thought he was rather innocent and sweet, actually. "I came in and ran a few tests, you were unconscious, but you did seem to grip onto that puzzle of yours very tightly. As if it was an item of utmost importance to you."

"Oh…" Yami couldn't help but put his hand over his mouth, looking away whilst he laughed at Yugi's rather cute actions. He also noticed the blush that was beginning to appear on his lighter halves cheeks, due to a little embarrassment. "Well er… yes. It's very important to me." Yugi said, forcing a shy smile.

There was a knock on the door, the nurse walked over, opening it to reveal a tall, smart-looking man.

"I'm here to collect Mutou Yugi, is he present?"

"Mhmm, I'm here!" Yugi said happily, trying to get off the bed, forgetting he wasn't in the best of conditions. His knees buckled, causing the weak boy to fall, kneeling on the cold floor of the infirmary.

"Mutou-san!" The nurse yelled, holding her hand out, helping the student up so he could stand, barely.

"Thank you." Yugi said with another faint smile.

Hours later, Yugi was in his own bed again. Though as he lay there, he'd like to think he was happy, but his body had other ideas. His skin was burning, sweat trickling down his neck and face as his body tried to fight off the intrusion. Gasping, Yugi tightly shut his eyes closed, teeth clenched, head moving from side to side, as every few minutes an episode of swift, agonising pain stabbed him.

"Ya…mi…"

The spirit of the former Pharaoh could only stare helplessly at the younger half, stunned. He frowned at Yugi's look of pain, not realising the lighter half was doing more than he thought. Yugi for the entire time he had pondered about possibly feeling unwell, or as he felt the pain, suffering, had blocked it all from Yami.

That small body had shouldered everything itself, just so one soul in particular did not have to worry or share the pain.

Atemu, Yami, it was all the same. The same person, the same former Pharaoh that cursed himself for being unable to do anything for his lighter half. His spiritual form knelt beside Yugi's bed, Yami didn't speak, and he didn't need to.

"_Aibou? You look like you're in a lot of pain, is there anything I can do right now?_"

Slowly the face of the other boy turned towards him, his lips not moving as he spoke through their soul link. He winced slightly as another wave of pain washed over him.

'_Nnnh. It's okay Atemu… I'll be fine. But um, could you get me a glass of water? I feel kind of… dehydrated…'_

Pause. Yugi hardly ever called Yami by his original Egyptian name.

"_Mmh, sure, I'll go fetch some water."_

The response was a mere nod from the lighter half. The boy's eyes were closed, but they still felt hot, as though the skin around his eyes or the eyeball itself, were scolding his sockets. The Millennium Puzzle emitted a faint glow, and then Yami appeared, pushing Yugi back into his soul room.

'_Maybe this burning sensation is from lack of sleep…_' Yugi thought, not blocking it from the other inhabitant of his mind.

Having heard his thoughts, glass of chilled water in hand, the dark spirit looked up the stairs. Making his way up and again into Yugi's room, he began to speak softly into the pale boy's mind, being careful as to not encourage a headache.

"_Aibou, you slept quite a bit at school when you fell unconscious, so I doubt it's that. For now all we can do is follow the nurse's advice. If you need some more water, just let me know."_

The container of the two souls lay in bed, the puzzle emitting yet another light. Once again, it was Yugi's physical form that was present.

Yugi was panting slightly. He seemed to find it difficult to breathe.

He decided to turn on his side, facing the spirit of the former Pharaoh. As he was turning himself over however, he felt a slight tickle in his throat.

Yami put a hand on the smaller boy's shoulder as the boy coughed violently.

'_Ah… sorry, Mou Hitori no Boku._'

"_There's no need to be sorry aibou, you can't help it. I wish I could do more to help, right now I feel kind of useless._"

Yugi stopped coughing, looking up at the dark spirit, the want to comfort him etched on his face.

'_You aren't useless, Atemu._'

"_Aibou you… nevermind."_

'_Eh?_'

"_Get some rest aibou. I'll be here when you wake._"

Yugi brought the covers up so they covered half his face, closing his eyes and smiling to himself.

Yugi awoke, eyes opening in a sleepy fashion to his room that was basked in the morning sunlight. He brought an arm over his now squinting eyes, entwining his legs in the covers. Groaning, he decided he'd close his eyes again and possibly let sleep take him, hell, he had no school.

The spirit also awoke from his hikari's movements, gazing at the tender boy who was curled up, soaked in the sun's rays. Yugi's lips were slightly parted as he breathed in and out peacefully, and Yami couldn't help but smile at the sight before him.

One of Yugi's bangs lay over his eyes, and Yami unconsciously reached out, brushing his hand against the cheek of this seemingly glowing angel. As he did so, Yugi groaned again and moved slightly, causing Yami to snap out of his trance. The spirit wasn't solid, but he knew that Yugi could sense it if he touched him.

_"I… what did I just do?"_ His eyes looked at his hands, in a way that blamed them for moving, as if it were without his permission. Though, that didn't last for long, as he was interrupted.

"Mou Hitori no Boku?"

Yami's head quickly moved up and at the owner of the voice that spoke. Somehow, looking at this boy made him feel… what was it... Mellow? No, that wasn't it, was it? It was indescribable. The toned Egyptian spirit shook his head outwardly.

"Ya-"

'_Oh._' Realization hit. '_He stayed with me._' Yugi thought, letting his thoughts flow through the link.

"_Yes, I stayed with you aibou."_

The sudden voice startled Yugi, but he smiled at the former Pharaoh, a smile that could melt mountains.

'_Now… what to do today…_' Yugi giggled. '_Let's stay in bed!_'

"_Aibou…_" The spirit sighed and shook his head. "_You can't stay in bed all day, you know that. But um, how are you feeling now?_"

'_I'm okay; I think I can do some minor things. My temperature has gone down quite a bit, and I think I can eat a meal without feeling sick._'

"_Alright, if you say so. Don't push it though aibou, you go back to school tomorrow."_

The smaller of the two responded with a nod.

"Oh, and Yami?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks."

"For what, aibou?"

"For staying with me."

Pause. Yami averted his eyes away from the little one, a slight blush creeping up on him.


End file.
